Hello all, I am trying to decide between renting a condo at Maui Sunset or Sugar Beach for Dec 2007. I have read all the old posts. Vela recommended Sugar Beach resort over Maui Sunset. They said the launch was better. Any opinions? I know the wind is variable that time of year etc... Thanks in advance. Gina

Sugar Beach winds are stronger, but directly offshore in the normal trade winds and EXTREMELY gusty. Because its so gusty, sailing back upwind to shore is very challenging, sometimes impossible unless youre on a great big racy board with serious upwind capability -- not exactly what most windsurfers go to Maui for. So ya launch, ya get suckered ever further downwind seeking better quality wind and some swell to play on (the water just off Sugar Beach is flatter than a fogged mirror). . . where youre stuck. The solution, if you cant SAIL back, is to head left/east until you hit land in Kihei and walk back along the beach. For that reason, sailing out into the bay from Sugar gets riskier the farther offshore/downwind you go in search of wind and swell.

And that was when there was not one building on Sugar Beach. Its going to be far gustier now at any spot with a building upwind. OTOH, youre not that likely to GET much wind, so it may not matter. Dec CAN rip, but thats not the norm, so maybe the newer condo is the better criterion than the launch; you can always drive down into Kihei to launch.

Or you can just stay down towards Sunset (I prefer a little further south yet, behind the Star Market at Lipoa Road; the reef there is a pussycat you can all but ignore, especially at high tide. Better yet, between Sunset and Lipoa, youve got the entire bay at your disposal. You can walk or sail over the reef, sheet in, and sail away in good quality wind with many square miles of decent swell upwind of you. I much prefer to play upwind of my launch because its always easier to slog off the wind to my condo when the wind backs off; its a lot of fun to rip upwind to Sugar Beach from Lipoa, then turn around and pull off the big downwinder back home, then repeat until the wind gets shaky towards evening.

But at Sunset youre in older condos; I had to let my AC run full tilt 24/7 at Sunset to keep it cool enough for sleeping. Kihei and Sugar are hot even in December. If a maid shut the AC off, it took a day to cool down again because its hamster fell asleep and its ice cube melted. And the reef at Sunset is a buggar, a jumble of shallow outcroppings waiting to bite you, unlike the single discrete reef further south. Nice lawn, though.

If you do stay south of Sunset, dont go more than a couple of houses south of Lipoa Road. Past there the beach swings a little inland/east, sheltering the beach from the sideshore/N wind.

Mike I dont get it. I have been going to the Maui Sunset since 1997 every year in the summer as well and the only time I even turn on the AC is when the wind dies for a few days and then the heat comes. Otherwise I never have it on. I am from Wisconsin as well so its not like I am from some hot climate or something. I am with my whole family and no one ever complains. We have rented several units in different spots. The best are the end units, they get the best breeze. As to the sailing in 97 I was able to sail every day right out front of the condo but I am not sure what is going on but the wind at the condo is not nearly as consistent as it once was. I end up making the 1/2 hr drive to Kanaha about half the time now.
Instead of 2-3 hrs out front coming back to say high every now and then, I am now gone for more than 1/2 the day so not good. If you stay at sugar Beach the best spot to sail would be at the beach located 1/2 way between the Maui Sunset and Sugar beach. Good sideshore winds there.
Its probably only a mile away from Sugar Beach.

Gina,
If you have non-windsurfers in your group, the beach itself is better for lounging or walking at Sugar Beach. The Maui Sunset beach has a seaweed problem that makes you want to lounge by the (very nice) pool. There are many other very nice condos in Kihei too, so limit yourself. I dont think youll be launching at S.B. either. Its either off-shore (with wind shadows) in the NE trade direction or straight on-shore in south wind.
M.S. has the shallow reef that is sailable if you know where the shallow spots are and you go at high tide with a small fin. The problem is very few sail there in winter any more. M.S. has become popular with kiters though. Most w.s.ers sail Kihei at Mai Poina Beach Park, about 1 mile south of Sugar Beach. There its more side-shore for either trades or south wind. In Dec its best to be mobile though. It can be best at Kanaha some days and Kihei other days.

We stayed at the Maui Sunset in 2004 and absolutely loved it. We stayed for 10 nights and had the top floor and the way the buildings were designed almost everyone had a view of the ocean.

As for the rooms, we thought they were nice and well cared for. They were doing some updating while we were there so the condos cant be that run down.

The room we stayed in had compact washer/dryers, full-sized fridge, utensils, dinnerware, tv w/ dvd player I believe. We had 1 bedroom with 1/5 baths and a balcony. It also had a nice pool area w/ jacuzzi and numberous grills on the property to grill burgers.

We didnt have any problems with the A/C and to conserve energy they ask not to keep the A/C running all day long while youre out and about. It didnt take long for our room to get cool so I didnt see it being a problem. Sometimes it would be too chilly to walk into an air-conditioned room while youre wet from windsurfing.

Anyhoo. We definitely plan on staying at the Maui Sunset again.

Oh, and since its not near Kanaha you wont have air traffic over the hotel rooms.

Maybe its just about preferences. I sweat at 80 in humid climates, and dont sleep well over 65 or so in any humidity. But then Im guessing I did live in a cooler (summer) climate than Wisconsins last time I stayed at Sunset; I lived in New Mexico, which feels about 15-20 degrees cooler than the eastern 2/3 of the nation because of the humidity difference.

We were also told to turn off the AC (in the far northwest ground floor condo) during the day, but told the manager how bad the bedroom AC unit was and insisted we leave it on all the time.

I hear the reef is pretty shallow at low tide.
Most sailors at Sunset go out at about an 11 o'clock angle (if 12 is straight out), so i guess there's reef problems upwind.
I always launch at the park about a mile upwind where theres no reef
worries. (we always stay at a condo near Wailea so I drive anyway).
I'm 200lbs and usually sail 5.0 with /90L board in August, occasionally 5.7.

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